The annual college rankings have been released once again, and Fairfield University has received multiple rankings from The Princeton Review and U.S. News ‘ World Report.
This year’s rankings for the university range from prestigious to less than admirable.
Once again Fairfield has placed third among the best universities in the north with masters’ degree programs by U.S. News ‘ World Report.
The rankings were released in the 2005 edition of “America’s Best Colleges” and considered 165 colleges and universities from Maryland to Maine for the category.
Fairfield University was also included in The Best 357 Colleges 2005 Rankings and in the 2005 Edition of America’s Best Value Colleges, two other Princeton Review publications.
In a recent press release on the Fairfield University website, Rev. Jeffrey von Arx, S.J., the university’s new president commented on the rankings, remarking that “we have a dedicated and highly credentialed faculty, along with first-rate students, so I am confident we have a very solid base on which to build.”
Judith Dubai, associate vice president for enrollment management, said in the press release,”I am delighted to see that Fairfield has again been recognized as an outstanding institution.”
She added, “We know these guides can be useful tools for students and families in deciphering the college selection process,”
Fairfield University received three other less prestigious rankings from The Princeton Review this year, including being ranked as the number one school with strained town-gown relations.
Fairfield ranked third in this category last year and first in 2002. Members of Fairfield’s administration addressed this ranking at a meeting of off-campus students on Sunday night.
Vice president of student services William Schimph spoke about the unfavorable ranking to the students, many, if not all, of whom live in the beach area.
Schimph stressed that the actual town-gown relations are not as strained as the ranking implies.
Dean of students Mark Reed mentioned the many complimentary letters and phone calls his office receives each year from beach residents concerning Fairfield students.
However, both administrators added that students who live in the beach area should continue to control their behavior to help improve relations even more.
The Princeton Review also named Fairfield University number five among schools with homogeneous student populations and number seven in schools with little race and class interaction.
Last year the university ranked tenth for homogeneous student populations and eleventh for schools with little race and class interaction.
These rankings coincide with the demographics of the class of 2008. The number of African-American, Hispanic, Asian and Native American (AHANA) students fell 20 percent from the class of 2007 to the class of 2008, although class size increased 24 percent.
Specifically, the class of 2008 has seven fewer Asians, six fewer Hispanics, and a total of only eight African-Americans as of June.
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